Who, What, When, Where, Why and How
by InfamousHogwartsJaguar
Summary: RE-POSTED. Edited. Ever wonder how the minds of Sakura and Sasuke worked? The thought processes they went through about well, everything? The things they had in mind as they made decisions? R&R. Constructive criticism is awesome, but no flames.


Who, What, When, Where, Why and How

By: JacobB-AnimeLuv

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Warning and Disclaimer: R&R please! I really love it when people do. Constructive criticism is entirely welcome, but please don't flame. Spoiler Alert! I'm totally up to date on the manga, i just ignored the VERY recent events. If you favorite or anything, review as well!!! I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto-san does. If only she gave me Itachi and Deidara… oh well, beggars can't be choosers! (^.^)V

_**READ THE PART BELOW THIS (EXPLAINS WHY THE STORY'S AS DIFFERENT AS IT IS):**_

The title's a little weird, but this fic is all about the thought process. As you noticed, the title consists of the 6 essential/basic questions one almost always has. A few things to pay attention to: Every section title has something in the section that loops back to it in a way, the first word in every section is a word from the title, the points of view alternate between Sasuke and Sakura and it might seem a little OOC, but it isn't because it just shows their thoughts, not their actions. I hope the tenses aren't too confusing, they should all be present. By the way, I AM RE-POSTING THIS. As in, i took it off because of many heinous typo's and corrected them, and now the shiny edited version is up. As in this version. Review!!!

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Thought Process 1: As I Left 

Who do you think you are? You think you can control me with your clear eyes, _pink_ hair and pretty words? And yet, seeing you here, accepting but still desperately hopeful hits a chord. You love me, huh? You think that that will make me stay? You don't even know that hearing that makes me want to leave even more. Your love makes me weak. I feel like I should protect you. It doesn't let me focus. It still isn't letting me.

I know what I want and what I need to do but your damn WORDS are making me second-guess myself. I think of the best thing I can do for you now. All that I can come up with is not letting you see me leave. I whisper "Thank you" even though I don't really know what I'm thanking you for. I hit the pressure point that I know will hurt you the least when you wake up. I'm taking off now… I have to keep myself from looking back.

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Thought Process 2: Drowning On Land

What were you thinking? Going after your brother so recklessly! Going to Orochimaru even when you know he'll probably hurt you… You'll be killed you fool! Sure I was mad when I woke up on the bench, and yes, I was absolutely crushed that you left at all, but the thing that made breathing painful was those two damn words you said. "Thank you." WHAT FOR!? I always sat back and let you and Naruto do everything. I just can't be that person anymore.

It was like rubbing salt on my mangled heart to know that even while leaving you could say such hurtful words. The worst part was I knew you probably didn't even mean it like that and I'm just overreacting. I WILL go to Tsunade-sama to train. I don't care how weak I am now; I'll force her to take me. This'll be a good thing for me if, no when, she accepts. It'll make me stop feeling like I'm drowning at least. Plus when Naruto comes back and I'm stronger, we'll come and get you. When that time comes, I'll just say "Thank you" to you. After I thank you, because I really do need to thank you, I'll use my strength to never let you go. So stay away for now Sasuke-kun, and just wait for me.

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Thought Process 3: The First Viewing

When did this happen? HOW HAD SHE GROWN UP LIKE THAT? Besides, who was the pale bastard and the other weird guy with her and Naruto? She froze up when she saw me. All of them did. But her… she looked truly stunned to see me. I let Naruto go on talking and just barely replied to his questions. I couldn't stop looking at her though, she looked so different. I almost thought she was someone else till I saw the hair and eyes. The same pink and green that will always haunt me. I let myself drink in her image with my Sharingan.

That yelled confession had stuck with me. It was the only memory of Konoha that I let myself dwell on. After all, it was my last moment in the village as a free citizen. I looked at Naruto then. My best friend, too bad I'd have to hurt him. I'd probably regret it later. I've let this go on too long. I lie and tell them that I've broken our bonds when I'm not really sure that any one of us can. With a sideways glance at Sakura, I attack.

I tell myself that I have to sneak into Konoha more often to check on her if I couldn't see how much she'd changed. Then again, I either saw her from a distance, in the dead of night, while she was training or just her face peeking out from under the blankets while she was asleep. She really had to be more guarded. However, even from the distance that I'd been watching her train, it was obvious she had improved… In fact, she could probably hold her own against me in Taijutsu simply because of the power she had. At that thought, I attack harder, a little surprised she hasn't joined in yet.

I need to stop thinking so hard and focus. I let my conscious mind slip away till I was nothing but a slave to my fighting instinct.

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Thought Process 4: A Near Hit

Where did we go wrong? He got away. Twice. Once was in front of Orochimaru's lair. Then he got away after killing his brother. I blamed the delay on the orange masked freak. The masked guy probably went back to get him after distracting us. I was pissed and totally crushed and _whyhadn'tSasuke-kuncomehomeafterdefeatinghisbrother??_ He probably couldn't get away from that damn masked spaz. I bet he was nearly dead after the fight. I've been crying like a baby on Naruto's shoulder ever since we back. I'm pretty sure he's crying too… his shoulders are shaking as bad as mine. Well, third time lucky right?

I can just feel it… Next time we meet, Naruto and I are going to get him back. We'll all be together again. I'll introduce Sasuke-kun to Sai and Yamato-taichou too. Then we'd be Team Seven again. A mix of the original and the additions, we'd be indestructible. We just need him to be back. I can't wait. I just hope we'll meet sooner than we did this time. I mean, I have to tell him that he had better mask his chakra better, because after I saw him at Orochimaru's lair and felt his improved chakra, I immediately knew that this was the presence that'd been visiting me on and off over the past year.

I've stopped crying now. Naruto has too. Right now, all I really want to do is look at him and say 'HA! Betcha didn't think I'd notice you spying right?' Then again, I kind of want him to keep checking in on me.

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Thought Process 5: Paradigm Shift

Why had that happened? I couldn't believe that I had accomplished my life's goal only to find that it was totally misguided. After Uchiha Madara found me and explained everything, all that I knew came crashing down around me. The only good part is that I did what Itachi had wanted. He's probably in heaven right now. I hope he's happy. He deserves it after all… he broke the Uchiha creed and actually did things that would benefit me and not him. I push these thoughts away and focus on the fight with Raikage. He's incredible. He actually lives up to his title of Kage. I might lose this fight even though he isn't a tailed beast. I power up my most intense Chidori at that thought.

I love Itachi, but I'm not ready to join him yet, after all, I still have to avenge him. I put all I have into this fight. Naruto's here, I can feel it. Shit. I'm in the middle of a fight; I don't need him here right now. I haven't seen him yet, but I can feel his chakra. He'll be here soon enough. And here he is. No! That's Sakura behind him; I kind of don't want her to see me now. Actually, I don't want her to see me like this at all. I look at them out of the corner of my eye. It seems like they just agreed on something. I'm pulled into the fight again by a particularly dangerous jutsu the Raikage aims at me.

Suddenly, Naruto's kage bunshin's are all around me. I hit the few around me, but I'm too late. Just as I see a flash of pink behind me, I hear a whispered "Thank you" and feel a tap before the darkness surrounds me. I just barely realize the simplicity and irony of the plan before I go too far under.

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Thought Process 6: Possibilities

How had everything worked out so perfectly? I just couldn't believe it! Our stupid, stupid genin level plan had worked on Sasuke-kun. I suppose it wouldn't have worked if he wasn't already distracted by Raikage and worn out from that fight. Oh well, it still worked! The only thing that didn't work out so well was when he woke up, no one was in the room so he took the chance to kill Danzo and the other two council members. No one was too pleased with that, apart from Tsunade-shishou (who had woken up from the coma about three days after Sasuke-kun returned, the first thing she did was put her fake youth back on before she went and reclaimed her title as Hokage), Naruto and I of course. He didn't try to leave again after he did that though, that had completely shocked everyone.

Really, because Tsunade-shishou didn't like the council, all she did was add solitary confinement to his punishment. His whole punishment was to be interrogated for all information he had (which he actually gave quite readily), solitary confinement for 2 months, house arrest for 6 months, another 6 months of D-rank missions and 1 full year of probation. He was done with solitary and house arrest. Now he just has 2 months of D-rank missions left. He's allowed to train now, so he can immediately go back to doing A and S-rank missions when he's done with the genin level missions.

Well, apart from that, everything's back to normal. All the rookie 9 and Team Gai are normal with him because of Naruto and I. Naruto's totally ecstatic, and after an initial tension, he and Sasuke-kun went back to normal. Surprisingly, Sasuke-kun and Sai get along really well. Sasuke-kun doesn't really acknowledge Yamato-taichou as a senpai just because he always has and always will look up to Kaka-sensei and his brother. When we all fight together, it's just as amazing as I predicted, we can't wait till Sasuke's allowed to go on _real _missions again.

What's up with Sasuke-kun and I? We're perfect now. After he was well enough to be punched through a wall, I did just that. Then I healed him and told him that I could sense him when he used to spy on me. He kept denying it but I just KNOW I saw the slight red on his cheeks. I stopped acting like fangirl around him, and he stopped acting like he didn't know me. We're really close now. We aren't going out just quite yet, but we're close. We certainly kiss each other enough to be a couple. At least Naruto and Hinata kiss each other as much as Sasuke-kun and I kiss each other. Naruto and I had talked over things and decided we weren't right for each other, despite what he thought. He noticed Hinata pretty quick after that. Anyways, like I said, Sasuke-kun and I are not a couple yet, but hey, there's a VERY high chance we will be soon. Maybe even we'll be even more than that. After all, I saw him get the ring his mother had from the Uchiha compound earlier today. And he had told me had something really important to ask me earlier in the day.

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A/N-- Hope you guys liked it! Again, R&R, no flames, contructive criticism is totally welcome! :) . The recent event in the manga that i ignored was Gaara starting to fight Sasuke after Raikage starts to get tired. If you want to read the manga in English and be totally on top of it, type .com/Naruto into your browser, and voila! If you've read my other story And Then There Were None... i lied, i don't know when the sequel will be up. I'm not feeling it for that story right now. If you haven't read the story... read it please!! :) . Yes, i'm quite shameless. Peace out you guys!!


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